Tag: New moon

This next eight years is about learning to value your authentic self and what you and only you can bring to the table

I was just having lunch with a friend the other day, and we were trading back and forth on all the current craziness of our lives. Because we are the cackling homo-witches that we are, we weren’t just discussing the details but more so the spiritual and emotional ramifications of everything we had swirling around us. “Well girl, we are entering into a new eight-year cycle kicked off by this Taurus new moon, so there’s also all that going on.” His eyes lit up like up diamonds. “Okay. Bury the lead”, he joked. “Tell me what the hell is going on in the cosmos right now because I need to understand and get a grip.” I gave pause, trying to figure out how to best articulate the weight of this upcoming shift.

“For the last eight years, we’ve been pushed to get more inspired by our own creativity. To get in touch with who we want to be and how we want that to come across in the world. But it’s mostly been a lot of ideas. There has been some action based off of those ideas. But it’s mostly been ideas. So, this new cycle has us ready to actually dig in and do the work so that we can manifest these ideas into true, physical form. Make them real in a way that we haven’t been focused enough to do just yet.”

He slowly nodded. “Okay. I feel that”, he whispered as he mentally played back the last eight years of his life like a projector screen on his mind. “I am ready to make some shit happen.”

What about you? Are you ready to make some shit happen?

Here we are, at the Taurus new moon which is all about manifesting our ideas around art, beauty, and our own personal stability into being. Whether that rings true for you as a creative project, a home renovation, a step in the direction of your dream career, or a mental revelation that can shift the way you approach the people around you, it’s time to make way for a new beginning and some great change. As mentioned, this new moon is also marked by the end of an eight-year cycle, as the planet Uranus ends its run through Aries and moves into Taurus.

Uranus is the planet that rules inspiration, creativity, and the element of surprise. It manages our connection to our authenticity, so it helps us to engage with our uniqueness. I always say wherever Uranus is in your chart is the area of life where you have to let your rebel heart shine and your freak flag fly. So, for the last eight years, its energy has been coupled with Aries, a fire-driven planet that’s also excited by creative ideas. The two together have allowed us to connect with our passions in a surprising way. They’ve pushed us toward taking risks with our choices and figuring out how to bet on ourselves, that is if we’ve been willing to put confidence into our authentic selves. For some, that’s been easier said than done. Still, we can all take the lessons that we’ve gathered into this next shift with the ability to still gain a greater sense of self-worth.

Taurus is the ruler of self-worth and value. This next eight years is about learning to value your authentic self and what you and only you can bring to the table. None of us can stand to get caught up any longer in what everyone else is doing to succeed. That is not your path. You cannot get define your value by how many people like your latest Tweet. And you also cannot drown in a sea of regret. As someone who has recently passed the 40 mark, I’ve taken it as a dare to double down on my dreams instead of letting them go. So what dreams and visions for your life have been percolating in your heart, mind, and soul, but you just haven’t entirely had the guts to take full reign of and magic into being? There is no expiration date on a dream.

I urge you to take this new moon energy as an opportunity to double down on your dreams and get serious about bringing them to fruition. Take on your goals in a way that perhaps you haven’t up to this point and put some real muscle into them. About that routine you’ve been imagining will help you feel better about your life? How about you actually just start that now? Yes, that involves a death to an old habitual style of life but don’t focus on the loss. Focus on the excitement of all the brilliant new goodness you’re calling into your life. This month, lay the foundation for the greater time cycle at play. You can cement some new ways of being that will bear fruit for years to come.

This process will require a greater commitment to self-care. Taking good care of oneself isn’t reserved for certain people. We all need to take a spa day, even if it’s just in your own bathroom with a candle from the corner store. We must nourish and nurture ourselves with loving words and actions. We must also value our connection to our instinctual selves. Let your heart be more of a guide on this journey. Yes, it’s easy to let the trials of the physical world make our decisions for us. But what if we got so in touch with our heart/ourselves, that we in turn trusted ourselves enough to make the right decisions for our lives? Could you imagine, actually just being so bad ass that you didn’t need to waste any time on what other folks thought of you? I am so here for that in my life right now, so I hope you are too.

You are the lead in the movie of your life. Don’t be afraid to act like it.

In writing this, I listened to some Janet Jackson, a Taurus who perfectly embodies all of its best qualities. She once said, “Dreams can become a reality when we possess a vision that is characterized by the willingness to work hard, a desire for excellence, and a belief in our right and our responsibility to be equal members of society.” Yes, queen. I feel that.

So, take a note from Janet and possess that vision for your life. And go manifest away.

I recently received an astrology chart reading from one of my faves, Anne Ortelee. She spoke to me about needing to be more comfortable and confident in expressing more than just one side of myself and my work. Being someone who works in film but also as an astrologer has always felt tricky. Like in some way I had to disassociate the two. And for the most part, I’ve gotten good at compartmentalizing them. But in thinking more on what Anne said, it does me such a disservice to own only parts of me at certain times. Sure, it can be a challenge to tell some agent that I can read his or her chart and have done so for many. But some get their lives from that reveal and immediately want to tell me their birthday. It’s the others whose eyes glaze over that make me feel like I should’ve just kept my mouth shut so as to avoid their judgement. But let’s face it, their judgement is just my own internal judgement reflected back at me. And if I’ve learned anything in the last year, authenticity is what’s most needed and seen right now. So how do I just own all of me, all of the time, without any sort of internal question marks or side eye?

The Aries New Moon is now upon us, and I always see it as an astrological new year of sorts, but for our internal selves. As most of you know, a new moon in general is all about a merging with our inner and outer states, so it becomes a chance for us to reboot the connection between the two. This new moon is the first one after we’ve transitioned into Spring, when everything begins to awaken from its winter hibernation to start anew. Aries is a time of beginnings, when we can find ourselves initiating new cycles, projects, and relationships with ourselves and others. It can inspire us to be creative and passionate in our approach, though sometimes that can overflow and cause us to be compelled by any compounded aggression that we’ve stashed within. So, we’ve got to be ultra-aware right now. Aries will jumpstart us in ways that can be purposeful, but that is only if we choose to engage with it as such. Otherwise, it will just ignite an out of control fire.

An Aries new moon is like a new round in a video game. You’ve lost a life but there’s another in the queue.

The sun and moon in Aries also sit in conjunction with Uranus, the planet of chaos and rebellion. With these three in the sign of war (Aries), it makes sense that on a global scale, we are diving into that kind of energy. But on a personal level, how you take action in your life right now can lead you toward some serious growth and change. Will you take on the challenge or just tell yourself that “it is what it is”? In a way, our astrological charts show us how the obstacle course of our lives have been set up, but we then have to choose how to play in it. We can surmount the walls around us, or we can see them as barriers that we just have to accept. An Aries new moon is like a new round in a video game. You’ve lost a life but there’s another in the queue. You get to start over, this time taking with you all of the knowledge that you attained in your last go around.

Uranus is also the planet that shows us where our authenticity sits. For us to have it as part of this new moon equation means that, in some way, our life is trying to show us a clearer picture of our authentic self so that we’ll more fully embrace it. For some, it’s facing that part of us that we’ve been at war with and have been trying to hide or suppress, while for others, it’s just an amplification of the self we’ve grown accustomed to.

The Mercury retrograde through Aries, which is also coming to an end, has also helped to shed some light. You may have recognized yourself responding to situations in a way that disturbed you. “Is that really me?” Or you may have come to see how you walk with ease into every situation, ready to inspire. Whatever it is that’s come up, know that it’s all been to support your opportunity to begin again now, either with a new knowledge that can ignite a positive shift or with an acknowledgment of your latest growth spurt so that you can own your next level brilliance.

Let’s choose to change and become the new, better version of ourselves. Sometimes that means letting go of some old business, relationships, or thought patterns that have become so embedded, we just think they’re here to stay. But it can all blow away with the soft subtle wind of change. We are being shown where fear can nestle into our thoughts, causing us to hold tight to old ideas. But this new moon time can allow us to see them simply for what they are, words in our head. And if they aren’t being applied toward something purposeful, then they’re just loitering and need to go.

Connect with those who remind you of your true nature.

So give over to your uniqueness. Become brave and take on optimistic beliefs. Choose to apply them toward your passions. There is no need to cling to the mantras in your head that have ultimately been sustaining your lack of forward movement or self-belief.

Connect with those who remind you of your true nature. Those that push you to expand the definition of you. Who recognize who you’ve been and love who you’re becoming. And more so, who know the person you’re capable of becoming in a way that you can’t even dream. Don’t let your personal growth be hindered by those who aren’t willing to see you for who you are now. And who you are ready to be.

Go slay the game. Collect all the coins. And remember that every day, that first breath you take is your Aries new moon. Every day is a fresh chance to choose your best adventure. Let the energy of now push you toward it.

“Just be you.” It’s such a spirituality buzz-phrase and concept, the idea of just being “you” in every situation. Some of us have no issue with it. I feel like I have folks in my life who bring the person I know them to be one on one to every situation. But that’s not always the case for myself. So much so that I’ve made it a mission this year to get fully in touch with my authenticity and live it everywhere at all times. But then I do find myself in some work-related environment and there I am again, modulating some aspect of myself, usually related to either my queerness or, funnily enough, my spirituality. I don’t respond to something in the way I would if I was just hanging out with my gays or with my fellow witchy spirit folks. I’m muted. I’m thinking one thing but presenting another, just so I don’t have to get into some deeper conversation or open myself to judgment. Trust, I know that’s my shit and what it’s about, but it’s a tired battle. Because really, at the end of it all, who gives a fuck?

The Libra New Moon is here to offer us a chance to begin again in this quest to be our fully unique selves with those around us. It asks us to ponder if we are able to reveal the most important pieces of ourselves, even just to the ten most important people in our lives. If we can’t do that, then just how “important” are they? Also, our closest relationships are a reflection of the relationship we have with ourselves. So if we don’t feel completely in truth or in balance with those we consider to be our besties, then how are we expected to be in balance within ourselves?

So how are you doing in relationship with your uniqueness? Would you say there are pieces of you that stay hidden or only find their way out in certain situations? Of course, some would argue about boundaries and the need to protect your self in certain areas of life. And I don’t disagree. I don’t need everyone in my life knowing all of my business. But I also shouldn’t feel the need to protect someone else’s feelings as a compromise to my truth.

Libra can be a real people-pleaser energy. It’s about keeping the peace. But in its best form, Libra wants us all to win, including you. So take a look at how you sacrifice your inner self and needs for the sake of other’s happiness. And notice if you’re afraid in some area of your life to rock the boat by speaking some truth about your feelings or desires. Again, I feel you on this.

I’ve been in the closet before and it’s painful. And living in a world where some hate me without even knowing me, simply for who I love, is bullshit. But I can’t allow that to scare me from being all of me. The same goes for my spirituality. I’ve lived through so many years of not wanting to talk about being an astrologer or my connection to spirit out of not being taken seriously in other areas of my life. But fuck those people. I don’t need their acceptance to validate the truth of what I’ve lived and my experience.

Neither do you.

Let’s take this chance together to not hide or hold back the things within us that make us one hundred percent who we are. The spirit of this is already in the air. It’s in the spirit of the current discussion around sexual harassment and violation. It’s in the spirit of political discussion and standing up for one’s beliefs. The time has come to shift the power dynamics toward our selves and away from others. The time has come to not be quiet about our truth.

Try this. Go back to the idea of the ten most important folks in your life right now. Ask yourself, how much of your authenticity do they know? How are you “in the closet” with them? And does it matter, is it important for you to come clean and shine your heart’s truth out to them? If so, then give it a whirl and push yourself to meet them at the greatest level of you. And if not, then maybe it’s time to shorten that list. It’s all good, because you’re just making room for others to join it who will meet you at the level of your authenticity. And that is what you need right now. It is time to live a life among those who can champion and support your authenticity. It is time to make yourself number one on your list. It is time to love you, all of you. Others will follow.

I start every morning off with a little spiritual routine. Now, I do struggle at first with wanting to check whatever notifications or emails have accumulated on my phone over the night. But once I can wrestle myself away from it, which takes about 5-10 minutes, I get out of bed and go to what we call our “spirit room”. The dog usually follows me in, yawning and stretching his little legs as I situate myself for my morning meditation. I like to use this app, Insight Timer, which calls me into my session with a nice reverberating chime. While I meditate, I try to practice mindfulness, focusing on breath and presence of being, as well as on visualizations of whatever it is I’m currently working toward or trying to call in.

After about ten to twenty minutes, depending on how long I’m going for that day, another chime rings and I stir myself out of my meditation. Next comes my daily prayer. Now, for a long time, I gave up on any sort of prayer because it all felt too religious to me. But ultimately, I found a way to reclaim it as a means to connect more to the energy of that something greater outside of myself. Here is my prayer:

Thank you God for the gift of this life,

This breath,

This moment,

This day.

I am so grateful for it.

I’m grateful to be alive,

Grateful to be present,

Grateful to be me,

Angel Lopez,

In this life, in this breath, in this being.

Help me to be present today.

Show me the light, show me the love,

Show me the path forward

So that I can be my best self,

My most creative, confident, joyful, loving self.

Help me to be of service.

Of service to others, of service to myself, and to my higher calling.

I am here for it.

I am available to it.

I am present to it.

I share all of this with you because the Virgo New Moon is here, and it’s urging you to give some more structure and routine to your spiritual healing. We also have Mercury, Mars, and Venus all up on the Virgo train, so that even though we are about to head into Libra season, we are all still in a place where we need to focus on Virgo’s lessons of organization and self-analysis. And there’s also still some major healing to be done. All around us right now. Structures are literally falling down in places like Mexico and throughout the Caribbean, and they will need to be rebuilt. Connections to faith are being weakened and need to be solidified. And those of us who can offer up any sort of assistance need to be able to give from a place of strength and calm.

You have to get more serious when it comes to your own personal healing and spiritual connection. It doesn’t have to be anything over the top, but it has to become a daily priority. I’ve shown you mine. It takes up maybe fifteen to thirty minutes of my morning, depending on how badly I need it. But given the current state of worldly affairs, and how I believe we are all trying so very hard to access our best, most creative, confident, joyful, loving selves right now, none of us have a choice when it comes to being more grounded in a soulful connection with something greater than who we are. By cultivating that connection, we can also get more in touch with our authenticity. And it is our authenticity that will then connect us to greater abundance of the things we’re looking to attain right now.

In The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho writes, “When we love, we always strive to become better. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too” So start each day by loving yourself enough to give yourself some time to just breathe and be present. Give yourself some love and energy before you then go out into the world and give it away to others. And know that by healing more of yourself, you will be better equipped to help those who need some healing love too.

We have to get down to releasing our self-made soap operas so that we can focus on the lives we want to be living for ourselves

I recently got over a conflict I was having with a friend, except the friend wasn’t entirely aware that there was even a conflict at all. Yes, that reveals me to be somewhat of a passive-aggressive headcase. I can admit to that. But there was also real hurt and sadness there, and I had constructed all kinds of reasons why I shouldn’t directly confront the problem. Some of it I even construed as being considerate on my part. But of course, it was all just fear-based. And in hindsight, I think some of the drama I was creating in my head, and in my relationship, was just stifled creativity withheld by resistance.

In his masterful book, THE WAR OF ART, Steven Pressfield writes, “Creating soap opera in our lives is a form of resistance.” And resistance is what keeps us from living “the unlived life within us.” We can so easily get caught up in what he’s doing or what she said or how so-and-so and so-and-so did such-and-such together and they must not care about me, but in the end, it’s almost always just some bullshit that doesn’t need to affect us. As Pressfield suggests, we have to get down to releasing our self-made soap operas so that we can focus on the lives we want to be living for ourselves.

This Gemini new moon wants you to get real with both the person you are inside and the person you’re expressing out into the world

The Gemini New Moon is all about unifying the conversations that our heart selves and our personality selves are having, so that we can clear a path for a more authentic expression of being. Sometimes we just feel some kind of way about something, but we don’t express it. We internalize it, like I did with my friend, causing a split in our life continuum. We resist the urge to speak our truth, thus leaving ourselves to suffer in silence. And it’s usually for no good reason. So this Gemini new moon wants you to get real with both the person you are inside and the person you’re expressing out into the world. Can you see if there’s any disconnect there? Are you suppressing a part or parts of yourself in some area of your life just to keep the peace? Is there a hole in your heart that you’ve been resisting to fill?

Remember, this is the launch of a new month-long cycle. So let’s take a closer look at each sign and how to work with it.

That Aries new moon is in such effect, I just had to light the candles and get into some ritual with it. Aries is fire. The entire sky is either in a fire planet or being ruled by one right now. So we all must allow our lives to be a little bit on fire right now too.

Ignite the fire of passion within you for a greater inspiration in your life. The world may be crazy right now but you have the opportunity to find a quiet calm within the blowing winds around you. Whether your greatest challenges have been in love, career, communication, or personal well-being, you can light a new path for yourself. You just have to put your personal power into it – there is no time for sitting back and waiting for someone to come along and guide you.

Your personal power is only challenged if you try to bring all of your past baggage along with you into this next chapter. Kick it all to the curb and move into tomorrow without being held back by past beliefs and ways of being. That shit is tired. And that’s why you’ve been tired. So stop carrying around the excess weight and dive into your dreams. Remember, you can only live your dreams when you stop relating to them as fantasy.

Love yourself enough now to know that you deserve to live your best, truest existence.

The Sagittarius New Moon wants us to bust through the perfect illusions we have built up in our lives so that we can take responsibility for our actual emotional truth

I’ve been away from writing because I just got married last weekend and have been immersed in the world of wedding planning. But it all went off perfectly and I’m in love with being a married man. Now being an astrologer, I of course had to pick a date that had some planetary meaning behind it. The date we chose coincided with Saturn being conjunct my Neptune in the 7th House. What does that mean? Well, Saturn is that planet all consumed with us growing up and taking responsibility in our lives. The 7th House is the house of partnership and marriage and because my Neptune, the planet of illusion, lives there, I found myself having to break the illusion of what I thought a wedding day should look like. Instead, I embraced the day and each moment for what it was and I could not have been more content and joyful throughout it.

As Saturn asked of me, I was taking responsibility for my approach to marriage and not entering into it from a place of delusion. I allowed myself to move through the illusions I had built for myself so that I could grasp the other side of Neptune, that of spirituality. I am a spiritual being. That is my truth. And my pure approach to my wedding allowed my ceremony and reception to reflect my spiritual truth. And my timing was spot on, as this new moon is all about this.

Put your authentic self at the forefront

The Sagittarius New Moon wants you to bust through the perfect illusions you have built up in your life so that you can take responsibility for your actual emotional truth. You can no longer subscribe to the lies that you have told yourself. And you have been singing those lies so strongly for so long, that you believe them to be the truth of your own inner voice now. But that is some bullshit. And you know it. When you can get quiet with yourself and get in touch with the disharmony you feel in your heart about your relationship, your career, your health, etc, you will find access to your real truth. So stop allowing the behaviors that perpetuate your poor emotional habits.

It’s time to only take action from a place of authenticity. Stop trying to curve your feelings so that you can please others. You must put your needs at the forefront. And by doing so, put your authentic self at the forefront. Breaking through those illusions of what you think you should be doing or who you should be will connect you to the spiritual core of who you are, and that is what you need to be doing right now. Focusing outward will only garner you empty experiences. Allowing your inner self to be your guide will garner you the true experiences you need in your life right now.

I know, this can all sound a little easier said than done. Or maybe vague. But if you drill down into your general relationship with how authentic and truthful you are being in all aspects of your life, you will see where the holes are and the work that you need to do. And I bet you already know where those holes are. So don’t get caught up in responding in the usual way – the people pleasing way. Bye to that shit.